Man mistakes girl with scarf for wife, stabs her in public

Mumbai: A 25-year-old woman pursuing Chartered Accountancy was on Monday stabbed by a man in what police said was a case of "mistaken identity".

Sonal Lapashiya, with her face covered by a scarf, was standing at a bus stop in Dadar, central Mumbai, on Monday morning when the man, Vijaykrishan Sangelkar, attacked her with a sickle, mistaking her as his wife whom he wanted to kill over some family dispute, police said.

The third year Chartered Accountancy student is undergoing treatment in a private hospital and is said to be out of danger, they said.

Sangelkar, hailing from Sawantwadi town of Sindhudurg district, was caught by passers-by and handed over to police.

The 35-year-old stabbed Lapashiya, who is from a well- to-do family, multiple times. As the profusely bleeding woman collapsed on ground, her scarf came off. It was at this point the man realised he has attacked someone else, police said.

Sangelkar's wife stays with her parents at Nalasopara in neighbouring Thane district after separating from him a few years ago. The couple, who got married in 2007, has a four- year-old son.

The accused wanted to take revenge on his wife, who had complained to police in Sindhudurg over some family issue and started staying away from him. Because of her complaint, his family members were also said to have been put behind bars by police there, they said.

Sangelkar came to Nalasopara on Sunday and bought a sickle from suburban Andheri. He then went to Nalasopara to meet his wife, who came to a spot along with her son.

Seeing his son, Sangelkar dropped his plan to kill her and asked her to meet him at Dadar on Monday morning. At about 9 am, he stabbed scarf-wearing Lapashiya, thinking she was his wife, police said.